The various embodiments of the present invention relate to data processing systems, and more specifically, to problem solving in data processing systems. Historical data can often contain useful information and it is possible learn much from history and from other individuals' past experiences. In particular in the area of data processing, it is relatively common that several users experience the same or similar problems with respect to various issues. However, when trying to solve the problem, it is not very common, for various reasons, to examine historical data. Often users do not even know where to look or how to access historical data for problem solving purposes. As a result, they end up “reinventing the wheel”, and wasting time whenever they try to solve a problem that is similar to a problem that has previously occurred and that might already have been solved by somebody else.
If a user searches for a solution to a problem using a search engine on the Internet, the user typically needs to go through a long list of websites that the search engine returns, and search among the websites in this list for a possible solution to her problem. Many of the search results may not even provide a solution to the problem.
In addition, companies and various organizations end up spending significant amounts of human resources on problem solving tasks, as people tend to have a high likelihood of forgetting the details about the prior problem, or there being different personnel involved in the different situations. Such situations could be avoided or at least reduced if problems that have already occurred could be solved more efficiently, and likely result in significant cost savings for companies and other organizations. Thus, there is a need for a quick way to capture historical problems and solutions and propose possible solutions.